"Remember you are dust, and unto dust you shall return." This Wednesday, February 25th, is Ash Wednesday, the official beginning of Lent. The ashes we receive as an exterior sacramental on our foreheads are meant to reflect our inward repentance and desire for conversion. Ashes have long been a symbol of our sorrow for our sins and the recognition of God as greater than ourselves. In Genesis 18:27, Abraham speaks to the Lord, "I have been so bold as to speak to the Lord, though I am nothing but dust and ashes." In the book of Esther, Mordecai, Esther and the Jewish people sit in sackcloth and ashes, imploring the Lord’s mercy. Job in 42:6 vividly repents, "Therefore I despise myself and repent in dust and ashes." When the Prophet Daniel desired to understand a message from the Lord, he turned to Him saying, "I turned to the Lord God, pleading in earnest prayer, with fasting, sackcloth, and ashes." Blessed ashes will be distributed during Holy Mass: 7am; 12:05pm; and 5:30pm.
Monday, February 23, 2009
Ash Wednesday, 2/25
"Remember you are dust, and unto dust you shall return." This Wednesday, February 25th, is Ash Wednesday, the official beginning of Lent. The ashes we receive as an exterior sacramental on our foreheads are meant to reflect our inward repentance and desire for conversion. Ashes have long been a symbol of our sorrow for our sins and the recognition of God as greater than ourselves. In Genesis 18:27, Abraham speaks to the Lord, "I have been so bold as to speak to the Lord, though I am nothing but dust and ashes." In the book of Esther, Mordecai, Esther and the Jewish people sit in sackcloth and ashes, imploring the Lord’s mercy. Job in 42:6 vividly repents, "Therefore I despise myself and repent in dust and ashes." When the Prophet Daniel desired to understand a message from the Lord, he turned to Him saying, "I turned to the Lord God, pleading in earnest prayer, with fasting, sackcloth, and ashes." Blessed ashes will be distributed during Holy Mass: 7am; 12:05pm; and 5:30pm.
